Iran's daily new coronavirus cases fall below 1,000 for first time: Health Ministry

An Iranian member of the medical staff works on the production of COVID-19 test kits at a medical center in Karaj, northern Alborz Province, on April 11, 2020. (Photo by AFP)

Iran's Health Ministry says the country has recorded a two-digit rise in the number of new coronavirus cases for the first time in more than a month, which indicates the declining curve of the COVID-19 disease in the country.

Kianoush Jahanpour, the head of the public relations and information center at the Iranian Ministry of Health, said on Monday that only 991 new COVID-19 cases were diagnosed over the past 24 hours, indicating the downhill course of the disease.

    "Today, after 36 days, the number of new cases or daily infections with COVID-19 in the country fell below 1,000," he added.

The official noted that the total number of diagnosed cases of the novel coronavirus in the country has reached 91,472, adding that the daily death toll remains below double digits as 96 more people died from the virus illness.

"Unfortunately, 96 patients [infected with] COVID-19 lost their lives in the past 24 hours, which brought the total number of deaths to 5,806,” he said.

Jahanpour further noted that 70,933 patients have also recovered and been discharged from hospitals so far, while 3,011 are still in critical conditions.

He added that 432,329 diagnostic tests have been carried out thus far across the country.

Iran, one of the Middle Eastern countries hardest hit by the pandemic, has been doing its utmost to contain the respiratory disease despite the hardships caused by the US sanctions.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has not only defied international calls on Washington in recent weeks to halt the draconian sanctions, but has even slapped more such restrictive measures on the Islamic Republic.

Washington re-imposed its sanctions on Iran in May 2018 after unilaterally leaving a historic nuclear accord with the Islamic Republic and five other major powers that has been endorsed by the UN Security Council.

Iran's Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi said on Saturday that the country is witnessing a “declining trend” in the number of fatalities and cases of new coronavirus infections as a result of bilateral cooperation between the people and the government.
Iran witnessing ‘declining trend’ in coronavirus deaths, infections

“There is a declining trend in corona disease in most provinces and this has been the result of effective measures by the people and the government," Harirchi said.